This was the first time Yuri was conducting an investigation independent of the police force. She was in an awkward position, having to interview some of her new-found friends as though they were suspects. She could hardly believe that any of these seemingly normal folks on this island could be a murderer but often the most cunning of criminals showed no traces of their psychopathic tendencies in their daily lives.

Yuri wanted to make everyone as comfortable as possible so she would talk to them casually in comfortable settings with Siwon’s assistance. Honestly, Yuri was not too sure how useful Siwon would prove in this investigation since this was beyond his job scope. But two brains were better than one and she needed all the assistance she could get at this point of time.

Kyuhyun, Eunhyuk and Seohyun were the most eager to talk to Yuri and Siwon about the case. The five of them were seated around a round table in the lounge where most of the interactions among the guests took place the night before.

 “After dinner we retreated to the lounge and had a conversation for about two hours before we went back to our rooms separately, retiring for the night. The few of us were seated there all the time.” Eunhyuk recounted as he pointed to the set of white couches surrounding a coffee table made of wood. “Except for the occasional excuses we made to use the bathroom or to add hot water into the tea pot.”

Seohyun showed her notebook to Yuri and Siwon which she had scribbled down a list of names. “I made a note of who were present in the lounge last night. The only people absent were Sooyoung, Ryeowook, Yoona, Donghae, Yesung as well as the hotel staff Heechul, Sunny and Shindong.”

 “That’s just as I remembered it.” Kyuhyun added.

Yuri stood up and placed her hand on the spot on the couch where the deceased had sat on previously. “Jessica was sitting with us, showing keen interest in the topics we discussed. That was quite peculiar to me because she was seemingly uninterested in interactions during dinner.”

“I noticed you from our table; you were rather quiet during dinner as well. But you were the life of the party in the lounge.” Siwon commented as he took a sip of hot tea from the cup. “You got Kyuhyun so excited.”

Kyuhyun laughed. “It’s a rare opportunity to be able to converse with a respected member of the police force. I always had a devilish interest in murder.”

“I hoped you meant that as a joke,” replied Seohyun as she winked playfully at him. “Although I have to admit that as a criminology student, the sharing session by Yuri was an eye-opening experience.”

Yuri nodded. “That was the highlight of our conversation. It strikes me as odd that Heechul would include a book about crime scene files in the library for the pleasure of guests. It doesn’t seem like something people would enjoy on a holiday.”

“Ah, but it did fascinate many people besides us. Even though Sungmin was minding his own business while reading a novel, I caught him sneaking a few glances at us through the night.” Kyuhyun contributed. Siwon rubbed his chin and thought of the expression on Sungmin’s face when he watched them. He could not quite pinpoint exactly what Sungmin was thinking but there was something rather strange about it.

“Then there was Tiffany who was dozing over her fashion magazine, the married couple Leeteuk and Taeyeon who were seated next to Jessica and Hyoyeon who was busy sketching.” Eunhyuk concluded as they rounded up the whereabouts of all the guests for the night.

“Yuri, Siwon, can I take part in the investigation? This would be a good learning experience for me.” Seohyun asked with wide-eyed innocence and pouted.

Yuri shook her head. “It might be dangerous, Seohyun. You should not get involved. We don’t know anything about this killer yet.”

-------------------------------------------

Eunhyuk, Kyuhyun and Seohyun excused themselves as Hyoyeon stepped into the lounge. Yuri remembered that all of the guests went back to their rooms separately except for Hyoyeon who was jittery due to the darkness. Yuri offered to accompany Hyoyeon back to her room.

“Yuri, thank you for kindly accompanying me back to my room last night. I had a bad feeling about this place and I was right about it.” Hyoyeon whispered as her eyes wandered around the room to have a good look at this place which she had so regret coming to. “Why on earth did I choose to come here?”

“Hyoyeon, did anything strike you as odd last night while you were in the lounge?” Siwon asked.

Hyoyeon shook her head. “I remember minding my own business most of the time I was here.”

“Did you come out of your room again last night? Your room was of rather close proximity to Jessica’s, you might have seen something.” Yuri asked as she studied the map of the room locations around the island. She had made some markings to indicate who stayed in which room.

“Why would I? I was scared stiff in my room and huddled under my blanket most of the time. Although I suppose I would have seen something if I came out of my room.”

------------------------------------------

Tiffany was sunbathing on the beach in her bikini and wearing a straw hat over her long curly hair as Yuri and Siwon approached her.

“Poor Jessica.” That was Tiffany’s response as Yuri made it clear that they were going around talking to every guests to find out more about what happened.

“Did you have any interactions with her?” Siwon asked. It was hard for him to stay calm and focus on his task when a hot woman with an inviting body was right in front of him.

Tiffany took off her hat and eyed Siwon from head to toe. She had found him to be so charming since he responded to her request for assistance onboard the flight. Siwon shifted uncomfortably and cleared his throat to break the awkward silence.

“Well, we did have a short conversation when she saw me reading my fashion magazine. She pointed out that the gown worn by Jennifer Aniston on the cover had been worn by Scarlett Johansson a few months ago at an awards ceremony. I had forgotten that since it was such a trivial matter. We chatted for a while about the design of the gown and that was it.”

Yuri thanked Tiffany for her assistance and they left her alone to continue sunbathing. As they returned back to the lounge, she nudged Siwon with her elbow and commented. “Men are always falling victim to pretty things with good bodies.”

“Well I’m not pretending that I’m not attracted to beautiful women,” replied Siwon with a smirk on his face. He took a seat next to Yuri on the couch as they gathered all the information they had for now. After a long tiring day, they had managed to hold a short conversation with every guest.

“No one saw or heard anything suspicious. Not surprising. Often it is the small trivial things that people seen or heard that were useful but they do not deem it important enough to tell the police.”

Yuri knew this case was almost going nowhere and she had no idea where to begin. They were working on an assumption that there was even a motive for the murder. What if they were dealing with a psychopathic serial killer who was out to get every single one of them?

“Everyone claims to be in their rooms at the time of death but no one has a solid alibi. We’re taking everyone’s word for it but of course somebody was lying.”

“Siwon, there’s definitely something that ties everyone together. Something we just don’t see yet. First of all, let’s examine the possible motive for killing Jessica. Why would somebody want to kill her on this island?”

“It doesn’t seem like she knew anyone on this island. Do you know what she was here for?”

“She told me she needed a break from work.”

Yuri’s head was hurting from all the mental processes that were going through her head. She had absolutely no idea why Jessica was killed as of yet. What was it that ties everyone together? What was the common factor before the murder? It had to be something that happened here, in the lounge.

Yuri walked towards the bookshelf and pulled out the crime scene book they had read the previous night. Her long, slender fingers traced the pages and she casually flipped open the book. A particular page caught her attention and she stopped to examine it.

“Siwon! Someone had cut the contents of the book out! There’s a page missing!” Yuri exclaimed as Siwon hurried over to have a look at it. The pages of 45 and 46 were missing. The pages were printed back to back on the same sheet of paper and now they had been removed. 

“Do you remember what had been on those pages?” Yuri asked Siwon who instantly shook his head.

“We didn’t discuss these two cases. But I do remember something; it was while Seohyun was flipping the page when Jessica made a most striking comment. She said she knew one of the murderers and I responded that these were cases from our parents’ generation and she had probably made a mistake. Kyuhyun jumped right into the case on page 48 which fascinated him greatly and Jessica said nothing more.”

Just as Yuri and Siwon had made a breakthrough in their investigation, they heard a commotion outside the lounge between Heechul and other guests.

---------------------------------------

A/N: Contents of interrogation with the other guests will be subsequently revealed in the story. It is to make the story less boring and to flow better. Characters not interrogated in this chapter may nor may not be important.